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Saturday, June 13, 2015

Directorate concludes Air Serbia investigation

Directorate finds no irregularities following union complaints

The Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate (CAD) has completed an investigation into allegations made by the Independent Union of Serbian Pilots that Air Serbia is overworking its crew, which could potentially put passenger safety at risk. The Directorate found that the carrier’s flight planning methods and crew duty times are in line with national legislation and European Union regulations. “According to the investigation’s findings, Air Serbia uses the AIMS program for crew planning and time keeping”, the Directorate said in a statement. AIMS is a crew planning software which determines the minimum legal flight deck/cabin crew requirements for any given annual or seasonal commercial schedule plan with consideration given to national laws, company regulations and union agreements. The CAD says its findings are based on random checks carried out throughout May and adds it will undertake another investigation in the coming period.

Air Serbia welcomed the CAD’s findings and rejected the union’s claims as baseless. “This inspection shows that pilot duty times, as well as the time they spend on board, are truly and without exception in line with national legislation and European Union regulations. On the other hand, these findings are in stark contrast to claims made by the President of the Union of Independent Pilots of Serbia, lawyer Nenad Vojnović”, the carrier says. It adds, “These allegations bring into question the standard of passenger and employee safety enforced at Air Serbia without grounds, making these accusations very serious”.

Last week, the union stated that Air Serbia’s pilots sometime have to fly two nights in a row and then have to work the following day as well. In a press release, the union said that, for example, a pilot that lands on Tuesday at 06.00, could have his/her next departure at 23.00 that same day. As a result, their rotation would end at 04.00 on Wednesday. The union warns that some pilots are then rostered on to work on Thursday morning as well. It identified flights operated by Air Serbia on behalf of Etihad Airways between Abu Dhabi and Muscat, which ran until the beginning of June, as one of the best examples of this practice. “This kind of planning, despite the fact that there are a sufficient number of pilots, may endanger air traffic safety”, the union said. It also noted that duty times among pilots are not evenly spread out and that the company no longer provides transport for its pilots, who must either come to the airport using their own mode of transportation or by public transport. The union has furthermore called for the implementation of a Fatigue Risk Management System at the airline. The union has not responded to the CAD’s findings but previously said it has been unable to schedule a meeting with Air Serbia’s management to discuss these issues in over a year.

What a surprise... not. This institution is run by Ms Mihajlovic's cousin so the outcome was know from the start. I hope they change something, especially with the work conditions of the crew. So many are leaving the airline.

Because of the shortage, JU had to reduce its crew training to just one week. Mind you, JAT' s was three months.

Remember that EK, QR and EY have more aircraft types that the crew must learn. For example, the A330/A340 licence is the same, however there are minor differences in the aircraft (A342, A343, A345, A346) and that must be covered (eg: the oxygen masks). No matter the shortage, I doubt JU reduced training down to 1 week. Maybe 1 week for A320/ATR aircraft type, still there is first aid and service to cover. Not all crew is trained for the B733.

Besides, outstations can check on crew knowledge, do random checks, and massive fines are issued if crew fail these checks. Airlines also do refresher courses and tests on a yearly basis.

Without prejudice, and no judgment on any parts, but isn't "AIMS - a crew planning software" just "machine" that spits out crew planning according to predetermined inputs which are current law and legislation on the field? In that case there should not be any dispute... All constructive inputs are welcome.

AIMs is suppose to do it but at the end human input is involved before it gets released to the crew. Hence, you have pilots flying anywhere from low 30s to as high as 80hrs a month. Fair? Of course not, especially when pay is based on how much you fly or not. (aside from base pay)

Someone deleted my previous post? Is there something wrong when I say that AIMs is used for planning BUT human input gets involved before roster is released?! Tweaking a roster for operational reasons is one thing, but when you have guys flying anywhere from 35-75hrs a month - that's a whole different issue.

The flight was postponed until 10 AM today because of technical problems at YU-APF. Yesterday was a really terrible day for ASL guests. JU801 from AUH was cancelled, JU655 from SVO eventually arrived but was 21 hours late, JU311 from from CDG was 2 hours late with B733 as equipment, JU174 to TGD 5 hours late, they send ATR to WAW because of the shortage of planes.....

Damn, that was a crappy day indeed! I think when you run the schedule so tight with minimal equipment - days like this are bound to happen. On the other hand larger carriers can afford to have few spares on "stand by" to mitigate IROPS, but unfortunately smaller ones like ASL can't afford to.

Can you have too much of a good thing, like too much aircraft utilization? Air Serbia can, and as a consequence couple of weather or mech issues quickly snowball into network-wide breakdown. Squeezing every single cent out of old planes is good, but it’s even better to counter it with the promise of better service in the future.

Airworthiness for 733 will run its course in due time so going public with replacement plan for Boeings (similar to how ATR replacement was outlined) is needed at this juncture for disenchanted charter and scheduled 733 customers.

Geez people... have you actually seen some of the delays on BA, LH, AF... they run into tens of hours... its the airline business.. get a grip... delays happen... why does everyone back in Serbia constantly complain about every single little thing... I don't get you people...

OT: I just got to know the real reason for OS cancelling their Male flights between July and end of Oct. Has nothing to do with low loads (official statement) but actually only with crew shortage as their layover is ONE WEEK. Now that is a tough life as FA to regularly get a week of holidays on the Maldives between two working shifts.

"BOOO-HOOO! Sniff...sniff...sob, sob!" crap works in European countries where you have excellent public transport to the airport (trains, tube, etc). Now, try to go to Belgrade airport by bus, in the uniform and be prepared to be returned home if you do not meet the grooming standard before flight. (I don't think it is possible to get to the airport with clean uniform, nice hair and pleasant perfume smell by bus in Serbia).

I find this whole saga ridiculous, they are highest paid in Serbia and always complain - and none of them finished universities! More respect for doctors than pilots and they get a 10th of their pay. Spoilt divas as always...

First 72 (not 73) leaves Zeleni Venac at 04.30 and arrives to the airport at 05.15.However, first trams and busses that take you to ZV usually start at 04.15 which means that you can't make to the first 72.

In other words, the crew working on the first flights has to get there with their own cars or take a taxi. Either way, JU should cover their transport expenses.

Last I knew JU was providing transport for its pilots. Many airline companies do so for their flying crew. Lets not forget working in a pressurised tube at 39.000 feet is not the same as working on ground.

"Kabini racunaju satnicu oko 1000din/h umesto dnevnica, plus plata od oko 50-60000din, zar to nije medju najbolje placenim poslovima u Srbiji sa srednjom skolom?!"That is a very generous salary for Serbia with only high school or in best case "privatni fakultet"! At the same time I think they get contracts per year so that is the major issue and I am not sure if they get some sort of pension. In Serbia many doctors outside Belgrade get 50-55000 as a regular monthly salary and maybe 2-3 "dezurstva".

New Austrian Airlines uniforms, clicked on the picture to enlarge it. Never saw those smiles from actual crew on my many erstwhile travels with OS! Blonde with tilted head looks like one of the Kraftwerk robots. Girl in black has this guy’s hand on her butt! What’s going on with Austrian?

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Australian low cost carrier Jetstar has unveiled a special livery on one of its Airbus A320s to promote the first country-specific version of the board game Scrabble. Manufacturer Mattel has included a list of local slang in its official glossary that are also featured on the jet, including words such as "Bonza", "Mollydooker" and "Devo". The A320 also includes the airline's name spelled out with Scrabble tiles. The jet is being used on both domestic and international routes and features Scrabble branding inside the cabin as well

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Lufthansa Group and UK-based easyJet have been selected as preferred bidders for the main assets of the insolvent Air Berlin, the German carrier has confirmed. Lufthansa also submitted a bid for Air Berlin's Austria-based subsidiary Niki, which could be integrated into its LCC arm Eurowings. Air Berlin administrator Lucas Flother had planned to keep these decisions confidential until September 25, after Germany’s general elections. Air Berlin said in a statement that the creditors’ committee will continue talks with the two carriers until October 12 with the aim of selling Air Berlin's air transport assets. Talks with bidders interested in other assets will continue in parallel. Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr said at a media event in Frankfurt that Lufthansa’s bid for Air Berlin's assets is focused on securing the 38 Airbus A319/320s it wet leases from Air Berlin. The Star Alliance member is also interested in a further 20 to 40 aircraft, without creating antitrust concerns. Those 38 wet-leased aircraft carry about 1.000 passengers a day, mainly for LCC Eurowings, and Lufthansa’s priority is to keep that operation stable. Lufthansa would need around 3.000 new employees as it seeks to build market share following the exit of Air Berlin, which has 8.000 employees. However, Lufthansa is not interested in Air Berlin's long-haul routes because it said Eurowings can grow this segment on its own. Air Berlin will end long-haul operations September 25.
Source: ATW